Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 1927. EARLY WIRELESS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLVII, Issue 10827, 24 January 1927, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. MONDAY, JANUARY 24, 1927. EARLY WIRELESS.

The recent important development in the wireless world, by which commercial telephony has been established across the Atlantic, recalls the fact that it is, roughly speaking, only a quarter of a century since Guglielmo Marconi succeeded in transmitting his first wireless telegraph message across the ocean. In the early days of his undertaking Marconi had to overcome . many difficulties apart from the scientific- problems he set himself to solve. These trials and obstacles he recently recounted in an article in the “New York Times.” He built a wireless station at Poldh*u, Cornwall. There lie set an aerial, supported by a ring of twenty masts, each about 200 feet- high, arranged in a circle 200 feet in diameter and covering an area of about an acre. In August, 1901,; when the work was nearly completed, a gale wrecked the construction: Disappointed though he was, he took fresh courage and decided to put up a simpler aerial. A triangle stay was stretched between the two end masts, and from this triangle stay were suspended sixty almost vertical bare copper wires, the distance between the wires being about one meter ati the top. These wires converged at the bottom, making an aerial in the form of a fan. Having completed his work in England, Marconi went to Canada, arriving at St. John’s (Newfoundland) on December 6. After inspecting various sites, he decided upon Signal Hill, a lofty eminence overlooking the port. Here he experimented with aerials, until at- last he found thathis needs could be met by flying a kite with 400 feet of aerial attached. He set up his apparatus' and prepared for the experiment. A telephone was used, because it was so sensitive to sound. The thrill that came to the experimenter when lie heard scant little clicks in the telephone can best he imagined. The problem of wireless transmission over oceans had been solved and a new era in communication was being'ushered in. Scarcely had the news got abroad than he was notified by a telegraph company that he must remove his apparatus, or legal proceedings would he taken against him, as it had exclusive rights in that territory. He prepared to move. He was deluged with offers of sites, and accepted the offer of the Canadian Government for a place at Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, which has continued to be an important wireless station ever since. What wireless has accomplished is known to everyone. The humblest home makes use of it for entertainment and instruction. By the turn of a button the air is instantly filled with music, song or story. Perfection has almost been attained in making long-distance transmission certain at all times, bridging the space between the United States and England. Wireless has been of inestimable service to 'febips at sea, to tbe explorer ~i nypolat ' icon's, to';..’ the traveller in the desert. There are, however, many possibilities not yet explored, and tlie next 25 years may well see an advance equal to that of the first quarter of the Twentieth Century.